Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. When the Lord appeared unto Moses
in the burning bush, he said, Draw not nigh hither, put off
thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest
is holy ground. Isaiah recounts his vision of
the Lord in this fashion. In the year that King Uzziah
died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted
up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims,
each one had six wings. With twain he covered his face,
with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And
one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
of hosts. The whole earth is full of his
glory. And the post of the door moved at the voice of him that
cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then John describes
his actions when given the revelation of Jesus Christ. And when I saw
him, I fell at his feet as dead, and he laid his right hand upon
me, saying unto me, Fear not, I am the first and the last.
Daniel narrates for us a similar experience that he had. Therefore
I was left alone and saw this great vision, and there remained
no strength in me, for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption,
and I retained no strength. Job, at the end of his great
trial, makes this confession, The Lord identified himself to
Moses as, I am that I am. These three Hebrew words simply
mean exist who exist, and clearly set forth the very nature of
him whom Isaiah describes, for thus saith the high and lofty
one that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is holy, I dwell in
the high and holy place. This is the same one that Paul
describes to Timothy. Now unto the King Eternal, Immortal,
Invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and
ever. Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light to which
no man can approach, whom no man hath seen nor can see, to
whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen. There is a complete separation
between the creature and the Creator. The holiness of Almighty
God is in the fact that He alone is eternal. He has no beginning
and no ending. Thus He says, I am Alpha and
Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which
is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. He
is, in His very essence, something that men cannot possibly be nor
comprehend. He is eternal. All of creation
is finite and exists because He makes it to exist. He simply
exists because He exists. It is sheer folly for a man to
entertain the notion that such a God as this could be worshipped
according to the dictates of his own mind, or as a function
of his supposed free will. To do so is to worship a false
god. This is exactly why he told Moses, Thou shalt have no other
gods before me, that is, before my face, and thou shalt not take
the name of the Lord thy God in vain. It is pure nonsense
when men would opine that all men worship the same god. The
true and living God cannot be worshipped by men, except in
a fashion designed and enabled by Him. But the hour cometh,
and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit
and in truth. For the Father seeketh such to
worship Him. God is a spirit, and they that worship Him must
worship Him in spirit and in truth. The Lord Jesus said it
plainly when he taught the Jews, No man can come to me except
the Father which hath sent me draw him, and I will raise him
up at the last day. There are many preachers today
who present the Lord as one who is anxious and hopeful that men
will do something that will make him able to help them. Many think
that He goes about as one whose hands are tied, awaiting the
decisions and obediences of men in order to do what He wants
to do. Such foolishness! But our God is in the heavens.
He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased. It is impossible that
any man could have ever been acquainted with the eternal God,
except that he should see fit to reveal himself to them in
Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God. No man hath seen
God at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. Apart from
his undertaking the redemption of fallen sinners and applying
it to them, none should ever have known him or been saved.
He is the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy
that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame,
and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Not
only has he obtained eternal redemption for a people which
he loved from before the foundation of the world, but he calls them
by the power of his Spirit, and they do answer. Well did the
psalmist say, Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest
to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts. We shall
be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy
temple. Do you worship the true and living
God? If you would like a free transcript
of this broadcast, email us at forthepoor at windstream.net.